Guns. I don't know whether to hate them or embrace them. I'm no stranger to them. Hub grew up in Montana where owning guns was akin to owning jeans. His dad gave me his .38 police special as a gift. His grandmother gave me her .22 rifle and his mom made him stay at the alter waiting for me under threat of her .25. I've never fired any of them.
Other than that we own several, I usually don't give them much thought even though the news always seems to be full of stories about gun violence. I've written a few times about contemplating taking a course in order to get a carry permit. I've never acted on it. My curiosity about the culture just isn't that strong.
I've written often about my objections to being allowed to carry weapons in our National Parks. Now states are beginning to look at legislation to not require permits to carry concealed weapons. Even more worrisome, to me, is the idea of allowing firearms on college campuses. The argument that it could prevent tragedies such as the one at Virginia Tech is problematic.
Imagine one deranged student beginning to shoot and all those around him doing the same thing. I see a mass slaughter far worse than anything a lone gunman could do. Oh, I know, there are hundreds of scenarios for either side of the argument, but it makes me queasy thinking about it!
So here we are. In the west, Alaska and Arizona do not require permits for concealed firearms. Wyoming, Colorado and Montana are nearly there. Idaho and Texas want them allowed on campus.
Representative Allen Jaggi, R-WY, says guns in the right hands make a safer society. Guns in the right hands. Like maybe law enforcement?
I'm not against the second amendment, but let's bring some good sense to the issue. Bad guys will always be able to get guns. We know that. But having every Tom, Dick and Mary who wants to carry a concealed firearm is asking for unintended consequences.
There's enough of that going around as is and around here it's aggravated by gun happy law enforcement. You'd think with all the violence in the world, be it people fighting for their freedom in far away lands or nut cases taking pot shots at our legislators, I'd think the public, even in the west, would be sick of guns.
2 comments:
I, too, living in a house of guns and have not shot them.. well, maybe one of them over 25 years ago. I take handling a gun very seriously... you have to make a commitment to it. If you are using it for protection, you have to have in mind you might have to use it and someone will most likely be dead... that is one commitment I have not be able to make yet...
If you actually read the second amendment you'll find that the amendment is talking about militias. We no longer have state militias or even city militias. We have a police force and a standing army...something they did not have when the amendment was written.
It ludicrous that everyone thinks the second amendment allows citizens to own and carry weapons. It talks about a militia..not individuals.
Look at all the damage that is done by this violent society because people buy and carry arms. If someone is carrying arms and they get angry at some other person and have a temper they can very well kill someone in a fit of temper. I am not in favor of ordinary citizens carrying weapons. There are too many demented people in our society.
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